A Thousand Years

Chapter Five: Miya, the Witch

Disclaimer: (Singing) I was going to the park one daaay, in the merry merry month of Maayyy... I was taken by surprise, LoK had caught my eyes, but I still don't own it to this daaayyyy!

Kain had advised us to steer clear from the human warriors for the time being, until we got a better grip on our fighting skills. The only problem was, with rumors of Kain having returned, the guards were roaming the city everywhere, and it was increasingly more difficult to dodge around them. I stuck mainly to the rooftops as I scanned the streets below for easy prey, having taken off my boots and gone barefoot. The claws on my toes provided better grip on the tiled rooftops than the boots did.

I was nearing the center of the city when the sound of music came to my ears: the patter of bongo drums, the hum and pluck of string instruments, and the coo of wind instruments. And over it all, a sweet voice sang. My curiosity piqued, I made my way towards the sound and perched on the edge of one of the roofs that looked down into the central square, which was lit with a golden glow from the fires.

Merchants were selling goods to the people that walked around, and on the stage was a beautiful girl singing and dancing to the music. Was it a celebration of sorts? I couldn't think of any other reason why humans would be out dancing and singing and selling goods in the middle of the night. I grabbed my boots and slipped them on again, making my way down into the square. Aside from being a bit on the pale side, I didn't really stand out from the crowd. As long as people didn't go getting a good look at my clawed hands, I didn't have to worry about being singled out as a vampire. My pointed ears were hidden beneath my hair, and I was careful never to show my fangs.

I noticed a lot of the humans of the female gender watching me as I approached the stage and watched the singing woman. For a moment I was nervous. What if they knew I wasn't human? But the way they were looking at me showed they were not frightened or angered at all. The look in their eyes was purely admiring. Zephon's words suddenly rang in my head. You're pretty sexy yourself, you know. Ah, so that was it. They were looking at me as a prospective mate.

The singer on the stage launched into a new song, and I was entranced by her voice and her lithe, graceful movements as she danced beautifully to the song. She kept the crowd entranced with her fluid movements, her voice as sweet as any dove. The entire crowd burst into applause when she finished, and I joined them, smiling as she bowed to them and took a break, walking off the stage.

It was then I saw that she, too, was trying to catch my eye, like many of the females had already tried tonight, but hers was curious rather than sexual. She smiled and motioned with her head for me to follow her. Curiously, I followed after her as she walked off the stage and led me into a tent, where she took a pitcher and poured herself a glass of water, taking a large sip of it. "I'd offer you some," she commented, looking at me with a smirk, "but something tells me you won't accept it."

I blinked and frowned, instantly wary. "Why did you ask me to join you here?"

She shrugged, taking another drink of water. "It's just that I thought, aside from Kain, all vampires were extinct. You're obviously a very young fledgling, Kain's son I imagine?"

I backed toward the entrance of the tent, not liking how much the woman seemed to know. "I thought I was hiding my vampiric traits well enough..." I ventured cautiously. "How did you know I wasn't human?"

"I used to have a friend that was a vampire, and from him I learned tiny vampiric traits not visible in most humans." She set her glass down and looked at me, tilting her head slightly to the side. "You move with a grace most people don't possess. Even while you watched me, your eyes kept glancing all around at the people surrounding you. It's the natural instinct of a predator singling out a weakling from a herd of prey. I noticed your gaze lingered on that crippled old man in the wheelchair."

I looked her over, and she didn't seem very threatening. She was not at all like the human warriors I had seen. She didn't have enough muscle mass, and seemed very relaxed and laid back. Her long black hair hung freely to her waist, green eyes watching me from beneath thick chin-length bangs. She was dressed in a slightly revealing dancer's outfit that hugged her shapely form, modest compared to what I had seen many of the warrior women wearing - or lack thereof.

Frowning at what she told me, I shook my head. "Kain told me that the last vampire, Vorador, died some four hundred years ago at least. I can see through your lie, human. None of your kind can live that long."

"Ah, but I am not a normal human, vampire." The woman smiled and refilled her own glass, taking another long sip. "I am from a line of witches that stop aging after they reach thirty. And you need not fear for your safety. I have no intention of harming such a good-looking vampire." She looked at me thoughtfully, and nodded. "You look better as a vampire than you did as a human. More graceful and gentle."

I stared at her in shock, rooted to the spot. "You knew me back when I was human?"

"Not personally, no, but I'd seen and heard of you." She smiled and set aside her glass. "How many more vampires are there now? Or is it just you and Kain?"

"Why do you want to know?" I asked her warily, wanting to get out of here as quickly as possible, backing up farther toward the entrance to the tent.

"Mere curiosity, that is all. I mean you no harm." She stood and held out her hands to her sides, to perhaps show she was unarmed. She suddenly straightened and grimaced. "Oh, forgive me, my manners are atrocious tonight. I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Miya. Am I correct to assume your name is still Raziel? Or did Kain change it?"

"I still have the same name," I replied cooly. I gave her a slight bow, never lowering my eyes from her. "If you will please excuse me, I still need to feed and the night grows short." I wanted to get out of there and report to Kain what had happened. I knew nothing of witches or what they were capable of.

"Of course, Raziel. Good hunting to you." She sat down once again and returned to nursing from her glass of water. Giving the woman one last glance, I turned to leave and ran right into the muscular chest of an extremely large guard. A muffled grunt came to my ears as I slowly lifted my head to the guard's face, my breath caught in my chest. The guard stared down at me, frowning, his eyes widening as the upward tilt of my head caused my hair to fall back from my pointed ears. His sudden bellow of, "VAMPIRE!" nearly deafened me, but if that didn't, then the next blow did. As I turned to run, he swung his battle axe around, but instead of hitting me with the sharp side of the blade, the flat of the massive weapon crashed into the side of my head and I blacked out.

When I came to, I opened my eyes to see a white, muscular chest. Lifting my eyes further I saw Kain's sharp features, black lips pressed into a thin line. He was cradling me against his chest like an infant as he sped across the land, out of the city and back towards our hideout. My head throbbed terribly and I was having a hard time hearing out of my right ear, which was caked with blood. "Kain...? What happened?"

"You were attacked by the very kind of guard I warned you to stay away from. What in the blazes were you doing?" he snarled down at me irritably.

"I... I didn't notice him until I ran into him..." Bad answer. Kain stopped and dropped me on the ground, looking at me in disgust.

"I expected better of you, Raziel. A vampire must always be aware of his surroundings and where his enemies are. What were you doing hanging around in the middle of a place like that anyway?"

Sitting up, humiliated twice over, I hugged my legs and stared at the ground, my throat tight. "I was curious as to what was going on... And the dancer..." I explained to Kain about how Miya had motioned for me to follow her and what we had spoken about in the tent, leading up to my departure with my intent to tell Kain what had happened and my running into the guard. I berated myself internally, disgusted with myself for being so careless and to cause Kain to be so disappointed in me. My chest ached in shame while my stomach growled its irritation that I never had fed that night.

Strong fingers grasped my chin with surprising gentleness as Kain turned my face upward towards his. My breath caught in my throat as I stared at him, waiting tensely for whatever he planned to do. Crouched down beside me, he drew my face closer and lifted up his chin. "Drink, Raziel." I couldn't have been more surprised if he had told me he wanted to make hot, passionate love to me. Although it would have been nice...

I looked at my maker uncomprehendingly, unsure if I had heard him right. He frowned at me slightly and spoke in that deep, purring voice that I loved so much, "Feed from me. You haven't fed tonight and you aren't strong enough to go back into the city to hunt." I blinked, then slowly shifted closer, tense and excited, my lips brushing against his smooth throat before I pulled my lips back from my fangs and gently bit into his neck.

He tensed slightly at first as his blood began to trickle into my mouth, then slowly began to relax. I watched him as I fed, shuddering with ecstasy as the thick crimson liquid coated my mouth and throat, triggering the pleasure center in my brain. I loved the way he looked now, icy blue eyes half lidded, black lips ever so slightly parted, enjoying the pleasure of being fed from about as much as I enjoyed the pleasure of feeding from him. Slowly, I brought my hand up to slide it around the back of Kain's neck, twining my fingers in his hair. It was as soft and silken as it looked. When he gave no objection to this movement, I became a little bit bolder, and moved to press up against his chest, my free arm sliding around his back.

His blood was like a sacred wine, and I could feel myself grow stronger the more I drank. I could hear the gentle thud of his heartbeat in his chest quicken, and felt his arms slide around me, one resting against the back of my head, the other at the small of my back. There was no doubt in my mind that if there was a heaven, this would be it. Here I was, pressed up against the man I lusted after and respected more than any other being, our arms wrapped around each other as I drank from his blood. My body was alight with a fiery passion that threatened to consume all common sense.

I stopped feeding then, for I didn't want to drain him too severely, and I licked over the puncture wounds as the coagulant in my saliva closed the twin holes. But I didn't want to move back just yet. I remained pressed up close to Kain, lightly nuzzling into the hollow of his neck, arms wrapped around his hard, muscular torso. It seemed to end all too soon as Kain began to draw back, slipping out of my arms as he stood, as composed as ever. A quick glance put me at doubt if he even had an erection... but then again, those leather pants he wore were so tight, there probably wasn't room for one. Thank goodness the pants I was wearing had much the same effect.

Kain surprised me by offering me his hand, and I slid my hand into his, pulling myself up to stand before him. And suddenly, I found that I was feeling very shy. I couldn't look him in the face, but rather, kept my gaze on the muscular chest before me. Kain chuckled above me - I shivered with delight - and leaned down until his face was level with mine. Startled, I blinked into his steely blue eyes and was even more surprised when he leaned forward to lick some of his own blood from the corner of my mouth. I felt as if my knees would give way any instant and I would fall into his arms, begging for him to take me... But I somehow doubted that would impress him. Instead, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, and smiled back at Kain when he smirked at me.

We returned to the clan in silence.

A/N: Woo, things are beginning to heat up a bit, eh? A very special thanks to Vipergal140, for being my first... and only... reviewer thus far. Thank you so much! . Come on people, pleeeease review! I really appreciate the feedback!